Job 3

¹After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.

²And Job spake, and said,

³Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.

⁴Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.

⁵Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.

⁶As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.

⁷Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.

⁸Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.

⁹Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:

¹⁰Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.

¹¹Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?

¹²Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?

¹³For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,

¹⁴With kings and counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves;

¹⁵Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:

¹⁶Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.

¹⁷There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.

¹⁸There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.

¹⁹The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.

²⁰Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;

²¹Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;

²²Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?

²³Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?

²⁴For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.

²⁵For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

²⁶I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.

Job 3

¹After this, Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day,

²And he said:

³Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said: A man child is conceived.

⁴Let that day be turned into darkness, let not God regard it from above, and let not the light shine upon it.

⁵Let darkness, and the shadow of death, cover it, let a mist overspread it, and let it be wrapped up in bitterness.

⁶Let a darksome whirlwind seize upon that night, let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months.

⁷Let that night be solitary, and not worthy of praise.

⁸Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to raise up a leviathan:

⁹Let the stars be darkened with the mist thereof: let it expect light, and not see it, nor the rising of the dawning of the day:

¹⁰Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, nor took away evils from my eyes.

¹¹Why did I not die in the womb? why did I not perish when I came out of the belly?

¹²Why received upon the knees? why suckled at the breasts?

¹³For now I should have been asleep and still, and should have rest in my sleep:

¹⁴With kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves solitudes:

¹⁵Or with princes, that possess gold, and fill their houses with silver:

¹⁶Or as a hidden untimely birth, I should not be; or as they that, being conceived, have not seen the light.

¹⁷There the wicked cease from tumult, and there the wearied in strength are at rest.

¹⁸And they sometime bound together without disquiet, have not heard the voice of the oppressor.

¹⁹The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master.

²⁰Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to them that are in bitterness of soul?

²¹That look for death, and it cometh not, as they that dig for a treasure:

²²And they rejoice exceedingly when they have found the grave?

²³To a man whose way is hidden, and God hath surrounded him with darkness?

²⁴Before I eat I sigh: and as overflowing waters, so is my roaring:

²⁵For the fear which I feared, hath come upon me: and that which I was afraid of, hath befallen me.

²⁶Have I not dissembled? have I not kept silence? have I not been quiet? and indignation is come upon me.